DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate and Hy-Vee are joining forces to pay tribute to Iowa’s military veterans. Hy-Vee stores celebrate Veterans Day each year by offering a free breakfast to all veterans and active-duty military members as a way of thanking them for their service. On Monday, November 12, Hy-Vee stores in Iowa will distribute the Secretary of State’s “Honor a Veteran” postcards during the breakfast and throughout Veterans Day, encouraging customers to pay tribute to a loved one who served our country.

Honor a Vet postcards and lapel pins

Pate says “This program is a way to recognize the sacrifice of our veterans and I’m honored to partner with Hy-Vee once again. Iowans have always stepped up when they country needed them. These brave veterans risked their lives to protect our freedoms and our right to vote. We cannot thank them enough.”

Approximately 50,000 “Honor a Veteran” postcards will be distributed to Hy-Vee stores across the state. Hy-Vee’s Vice President of Communications, Tina Potthoff, says “Together with our customers we have the opportunity this Veterans Day to show our support to those who have served us. This program is one more way we can thank our veterans for serving our country and show our appreciation to these brave men and women.”

Veterans receiving the postcards at Hy-Vee can write a tribute to a fellow soldier, submit their own information to receive recognition from the State of Iowa, or give the card to a loved one to post an acknowledgement. The postcards will be returned to the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office and tributes will be posted online at HonorAVet.net and Facebook.com/HonoraVeteran.

The person making the tribute and the veteran being honored, if they are still with us, will both receive an ‘Honor a Veteran with Your Vote’ lapel pin in the mail. The lapel pins are red, white and blue, and in the shape of the state of Iowa. Secretary Pate encourages recipients of the lapel pins to wear them on Election Day as a tribute to the sacrifice veterans made to provide Americans with the right to choose our elected leaders and form of government.

Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development Anne Hazlett today (Thursday) announced that USDA is investing $1.6 billion in 46 rural electric utility infrastructure projects to improve electric reliability and resilience in 24 states. Among the projects is the Western Iowa Power Cooperative, which is receiving $9-million in a Rural Development Incentive to add 22-miles of line, improve 104-miles and make other system improvements, including $2.8-million for smart grid technologies. WIPC serves more than 5-thousand residential and commercial consumers in an area that is primarily agricultural, including grain farming, corn processing and meat process plants, as well as poultry and other livestock operations.

Secretary Hazlett said “Reliable and affordable power is an underpinning for economic development and quality of life. Under the leadership of Secretary Sonny Perdue, USDA is committed to being a strong partner in building prosperity in rural communities through the sustainment and modernization of rural electric infrastructure.”

The 46 projects are being funded through USDA’s Electric Program. Officials say the investments will help contribute to a stronger rural electric system by improving operations and reliability. USDA’s funding will help build or improve 5,833 miles of line. It includes $307 million in smart grid technologies, which improve system operations and monitor grid security. The investments will benefit 7 million rural business and residential electric consumers across the country.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Corrections Department says a work release inmate has been listed as escaped. The department said Thursday that 20-year-old Jason Ruplinger Jr. didn’t return as required Wednesday night to the Davenport Work Release Center. The department says Ruplinger has been serving time for robbery and other crimes in Scott County. He was admitted to the work release center on Oct. 17.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports today (Thursday), a man held in the Pott. County Jail in Council Bluffs, was served Wednesday afternoon, with two warrants for Violation of Probation. 19-year old  Dustin Joshua Pursell, of Council Bluffs, was being held in the jail without bond, while awaiting placement in a Residential Correctional Facility (RCF). His bond on the warrants was set at $2,500.

A Deputy was dispatched to 11549 192nd in Council Bluffs Wednesday evening, following a report of a suspicious person on the property. 35-year old Rex D. Peterson II, of Dunbar, NE, was subsequently cited for Criminal Trespass, and released from the scene.

And, a Neola man, 39-year old Paul Wayne Carlson, was arrested at around 11:35-p.m. Wednesday at Highway 92 and  460th Street. Carlson was charged with OWI/1st offense after his car was stopped for speeding 69-mph in a 55-zone and he displayed clues of impairment.

WAHOO, Neb. (AP) — A man who attacked a sheriff’s deputy during an escape in eastern Nebraska has been given up to 113 years in prison. Saunders County, NE., District Court records say 38-year-old Eric Scott was sentenced Wednesday. He’d pleaded no contest to charges of escape, assault on an officer, theft and use of a weapon. Officials say Scott was being driven to court in Fremont Sept. 20, 2017, by a Dodge County sheriff’s deputy in an unmarked government car when he slipped his handcuffs and used his leg-iron chain to choke the deputy. Scott gained control of the car in Saunders County, forcing out the deputy.

Scott was arrested the next day after he was found walking near the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office in Council Bluffs, Iowa.